Biochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within

and relating to living organisms.[1] Biochemical processes give rise to the complexity of life.
A sub-discipline of both biology and chemistry, biochemistry can be divided in three fields; molecular
genetics, protein science and metabolism. Over the last decades of the 20th century, biochemistry
has through these three disciplines become successful at explaining living processes. Almost
all areas of the life sciences are being uncovered and developed by biochemical methodology and
research.[2] Biochemistry focuses on understanding how biological moleculesgive rise to the
processes that occur within living cells and between cells,[3] which in turn relates greatly to the study
and understanding of tissues, organs, and organism structure and function.[4]
Biochemistry is closely related to molecular biology, the study of the molecularmechanisms by
which genetic information encoded in DNA is able to result in the processes of life.[5]
Much of biochemistry deals with the structures, functions and interactions of
biological macromolecules, such as proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates and lipids, which provide
the structure of cells and perform many of the functions associated with life.[6]The chemistry of the
cell also depends on the reactions of smaller molecules and ions. These can be inorganic, for
example water and metal ions, or organic, for example the amino acids, which are used
to synthesize proteins.[7] The mechanisms by which cells harness energy from their environment via
chemical reactions are known as metabolism. The findings of biochemistry are applied primarily
in medicine, nutrition, and agriculture. In medicine, biochemists investigate the causes
and cures of diseases.[8] In nutrition, they study how to maintain health wellness and study the effects
of nutritional deficiencies.[9] In agriculture, biochemists investigate soil and fertilizers, and try to
discover ways to improve crop cultivation, crop storage and pest control.

Contents

• 1History
• 2Starting materials: the chemical elements of life
• 3Biomolecules
o 3.1Carbohydrates
o 3.2Lipids
o 3.3Proteins
o 3.4Nucleic acids
• 4Metabolism
o 4.1Carbohydrates as energy source
▪ 4.1.1Glycolysis (anaerobic)
▪ 4.1.2Aerobic
▪ 4.1.3Gluconeogenesis
• 5Relationship to other "molecular-scale" biological sciences
• 6See also
o 6.1Lists
o 6.2See also
• 7Notes
• 8References
o 8.1Cited literature
• 9Further reading
• 10External links
History[edit]
Main article: History of biochemistry

Gerty Cori and Carl Corijointly won the Nobel Prize in 1947 for their discovery of the Cori cycle at RPMI.

At its broadest definition, biochemistry can be seen as a study of the components and composition
of living things and how they come together to become life, in this sense the history of biochemistry
may therefore go back as far as the ancient Greeks.[10] However, biochemistry as a specific scientific
discipline has its beginning sometime in the 19th century, or a little earlier, depending on which
aspect of biochemistry is being focused on. Some argued that the beginning of biochemistry may
have been the discovery of the first enzyme, diastase (today called amylase), in 1833 by Anselme
Payen,[11] while others considered Eduard Buchner's first demonstration of a complex biochemical
process alcoholic fermentation in cell-free extracts in 1897 to be the birth of biochemistry.[12][13] Some
might also point as its beginning to the influential 1842 work by Justus von Liebig, Animal chemistry,
or, Organic chemistry in its applications to physiology and pathology, which presented a chemical
theory of metabolism,[10] or even earlier to the 18th century studies
on fermentation and respiration by Antoine Lavoisier.[14][15] Many other pioneers in the field who
helped to uncover the layers of complexity of biochemistry have been proclaimed founders of
modern biochemistry, for example Emil Fischer for his work on the chemistry of proteins,[16] and F.
Gowland Hopkins on enzymes and the dynamic nature of biochemistry.[17]
The term "biochemistry" itself is derived from a combination of biology and chemistry. In 1877, Felix
Hoppe-Seyler used the term (biochemie in German) as a synonym for physiological chemistry in the
foreword to the first issue of Zeitschrift für Physiologische Chemie (Journal of Physiological
Chemistry) where he argued for the setting up of institutes dedicated to this field of study.[18][19] The
German chemist Carl Neuberghowever is often cited to have coined the word in 1903,[20][21][22] while
some credited it to Franz Hofmeister.[23]